Canada, USA, Slovakia and Finland secure quarterfinal byes as qualification play-off matchups are revealed. Eight teams battle for the remaining four spots in what will be an intense elimination round.
Now that the round-robin section of the 2026 Winter Olympics men's ice hockey tournament has concluded, the schedule for the elimination rounds is set.
Team Canada emerged as the top overall seed with a 3-0-0 record and the best goal differential, and they, along with Team USA, Team Slovakia and Team Finland all earned byes into the quarterfinals.
For the other eight teams, each will have to play a play-off qualifier game to earn one of the other four spots remaining.
Here's how the schedule breaks down:
Automatic Bids to Quarterfinals
Team Canada (3-0-0; 1st) - Seth Jarvis
Team USA (3-0-0; 2nd) - Jaccob Slavin
Team Slovakia (2-1-0; 3rd)
Team Finland (2-1-0; 4th) - Sebastian Aho
Play-Off Qualifiers
Team Switzerland (2-1-0; 5th) vs. Team Italy (0-3-0; 12th)
6:10 a.m. EST puck drop on Tuesday. Feb. 17.
Winner will face Team Finland.
Team Germany (1-2-0; 6th) vs. Team France (0-3-0; 11th)
6:10 a.m. EST puck drop on Tuesday. Feb. 17.
Winner will face Team Slovakia.
Team Sweden (2-1-0; 7th) vs. Team Latvia (1-2-0; 10th)
3:10 p.m. EST puck drop on Tuesday. Feb. 17.
Winner will face Team USA.
Team Czechia (1-1-1; 8th) vs. Team Denmark (1-2-0; 9th)
10:40 a.m. puck drop on Tuesday. Feb. 17.
Winner will face Team Canada.
Frederik Andersen and Nikolaj Ehlers will hope to keep their Olympic debuts going with Team Denmark.
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